


The Favor

by Titch360



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:39:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7683031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titch360/pseuds/Titch360
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian needs some help, and he turns to the one person who can get the job done. Who would have ever thought that person would be Tim Drake?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Favor

The Favor

 

For once, Tim Drake was content.  For once, he felt like everything was going right.

Tim sat at the small desk in his bedroom at Stately Wayne Manor, typing a report into his laptop.  For the third week in a row, he brought work home from the office.  However, unlike the last two weekends, ‘home’ was a weekend spent at the manor, instead of his apartment in the city.  Also, unlike the past two weekends, Tim realized he would be done with this weekend’s batch of work in just a few short minutes, leaving the rest of his time blissfully open.

As he turned to consult his notes, in the spiral-bound notebook set next to his laptop, he caught movement outside his open bedroom door out of the corner of his eye.  Tim was the exception to the rule at the manor: he was the only one who liked having his door open when he was in his room.  It allowed him to at least get a glimpse of people walking by occasionally when he shut himself away to work.  It also made people feel he was less antisocial when he could look up and smile at someone as they walked by. 

Ignoring the glimpse of movement, Tim went back to typing, desperate to finish the report as soon as possible, now that he saw the light of freedom at the end of the tunnel.  A minute later, a booming bark echoed through the hallway from very close to Tim’s open door.  Tim jumped, his head swiveling to the door.  There, he saw Damian trying to shoo his massive pet away from the threshold.

“Titus, shoo!  I told you not to do that,” Damian looked up, his eyes meeting Tim’s as a curious blush darkened the younger boy’s cheeks, “Uh…sorry to bother you, Drake.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed as he wondered just how sorry the child was.  _It looks like something else is up._   “How long were you standing there, Damian?”

“Here?  Just a minute.”  Damian didn’t bother to tell Tim that he had been standing in the hall, out of view of the door, for another five minutes, trying to build up courage, and another ten minutes in his own room, thinking about what he was planning to do.

Tim thought there was more to the explanation than Damian was giving, but he didn’t want to push too hard.  Things had been improving between Tim and Damian since Tim’s last birthday, and Tim would be the first to admit, he liked it.  The thought of that day still put a smile on the older teen’s face.  Damian had seemed so nervous that day, when he tried to bury the hatchet with a great birthday present and a consciously adjusted attitude.  Tim had been happy that the day hadn’t ended with Damian trying to bury the hatchet in his back. 

Their icy relationship had thawed ever since, and had taken a huge leap forward last week at Damian’s 12th birthday.  Trying to match the time and thoughtfulness Damian had put into his own gift, Tim labored for weeks to find the perfect present.  _What do you get for the 12 year old, ex-assassin son of Batman?  What do you get for the son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, a child who just has to look at something for his father, still trying to build a relationship with the boy himself, to buy him one in every color available?_

Tim had several long conversations with Alfred and Dick about what Damian needed that he didn’t know he needed, and both had come up empty.  Both were also surprised that Tim was taking such an interest in his youngest brother.  Dick thought he knew why, and he was glad for the change.  Alfred was just glad that the manor no longer rang with the sounds of death threats and slammed doors.

Alfred had found a new book on the history of Samurai, signed by the author.  Dick had gone another route, and set up a weekend trip just for himself and Damian.  Next spring, they were going rock climbing and spelunking.  Neither man knew what Bruce was doing, but Dick figured his father would walk into a store, throw a credit card at the cashier and ask for something that a 12 year old would like.  Neither man had a good idea for Tim, though.

Tim thought long and hard until, one day last month, while staring into space, thinking about possible, meaningful gifts, Damian had walked by Tim’s open door.  Damian didn’t stop, didn’t even look at the open door, just continued on towards the stairs.  What caught Tim’s attention was that Damian was whistling as he passed.  Tim instantly recognized the song, and a slow, satisfied smile crept across his face.  Tim then leapt up and ran to his laptop and set about finding the perfect birthday present.  It took a couple weeks to find exactly what he was looking for, but when he did, he felt no reservations in paying the extraordinary fee associated in acquiring the item before the boy’s birthday.

Damian’s birthday had dawned cold and gray, but it couldn’t dim the mood in the house.  This was the first year where the whole family was together and getting along, and that was something to be celebrated.  Damian was happy with, and intrigued by, the book, and excited for his trip with Dick in the spring, and the snowmobile Bruce got him would not only complete the family set, but they knew he would make good use of it once the snow started falling. 

When Tim handed over a long, thin, heavy cylinder and a card, no one had any idea what to think.  Tim hadn’t told the others that he had found the perfect gift, he wanted everyone to be equally surprised.  Tim shot Alfred a look, and the man instantly caught on and admonished Damian to open the card first.  Damian complied with only a slight grumble, not really caring what sappy sentiments the greeting card industry was pouring out this year.  When he pulled a single piece of embossed, heavy card stock out of the envelope and read it, however, Damian lost the ability to put together a comprehensive thought.  Tim smiled as he watched Damian’s eyes dart back and forth across the half sheet, reading the inscribed words at least three times before looking up at Tim in shock.

“Is…is it?  Is it really?” Damian had asked, his tongue tripping over itself.

Tim just nodded and looked pointedly at the still-wrapped gift laying across the child’s lap.  Damian unwrapped it almost reverently, muttering to himself, ‘no way…no way…no way this is possible.’  Once free of its paper wrapping, Damian sat back and looked at the item in his lap, almost afraid to touch it.

Dick got up and stood behind the couch, placing a hand on Damian’s shoulder before asking, “Damian?”

Damian just shook his head and handed Dick the card.  The elder son read it twice, an awed look coming across his face as he whispered, “Holy Hittori Hanzo.  Timmy, you will never be able to top this.  Neither will any of us, for that matter.  Holy crap, am I glad you went last.”

Tim was just starting to look a bit nervous, “Do you like it?”

Finally able to speak again, Damian blurted out, “Are you kidding?  This is amazing!  How…How did you do this?”

Dick nodded behind Damian, “Yeah, Tim, how could you possibly get this?”

Tim shrugged, “It wasn’t easy, but once I was able to find one, everything else just fell into place.”

“…And, this is real?  Like…really real?” Damian looked like his head was about to explode as Tim nodded.

Bruce, tired of craning his neck, and impatient to see what Damian obviously revered but had yet to touch, stood to get a better view.  A katana lay in his son’s lap in a simple sheath.  As Bruce stood, Damian finally picked up the sword and pulled it out of the scabbard a few inches.  A metallic hum filled the room as the metal vibrated.  Bruce said, “It’s a nice sword, but I’m guessing there is something special about this one?”

Dick and Damian both spoke at the same time, excitement clearly evident in their voices, “It’s the sword from Kill Bill!”

Tim smiled and said, “They actually made six for different parts of the film.  If the Certificate of Authenticity is correct, this is the one the Bride carried when she was walking through the airport.  I don’t think this one was actually used in any of the fight scenes.”

“Who cares?” Damian said, admiring the blade, “It was still seen on screen, and it’s in amazing condition.  Thank you, Tim.” Damian’s head shot up, hoping no one had noticed, “Drake!  Thank you Drake!”

Dick sat down on the other side of Tim, “How did you get it?” he asked.

“I found it at a prop auction online.  This is, or _was_ now, the last one not in a private collection.  Now, I guess they are all accounted for.”

Damian was still in shock, “This is my favorite movie.  How did you know, Drake?”

“I was wondering what to get you.  I wanted it to be something nice, you know…since we seem to be doing better lately.  Anyway, I had no idea what to get you…”

Dick interrupted, “…He really didn’t, Little D.  Timmy came to Alfred and me for help.”

Damian looked a little disappointed, “So…this wasn’t your idea?”

Dick could sense the shift in Damian, “No, this was.  Alfred and I couldn’t think of anything for Timmy to get you.  I’ve no idea how he came up with this.”

Tim continued, “Well, a couple weeks ago, while I was thinking about it, you walked by my room, whistling that tune from the movie.  Then, it just hit me.  I had to try.”

Dick interrupted again, “Wait wait wait, Damian was _whistling_?  Like…making tuneful noises with his lips, like a normal, happy person would do?”

Damian blushed red and mumbled, “I’m trying to change; you know I am.”

Dick gave his youngest brother a soft smile, “I know, little brother.  I’m just happy that you’re making progress.”

Tim could do no wrong for the next week, as far as Damian was concerned. 

Now, as Damian stood in Tim’s doorway, Tim thought he looked oddly nervous.  _I don’t think I’ve seen him looking this nervous before._   “What can I do for you, Damian?” Tim asked.

Damian looked away as his cheeks grew darker, “Um…I was hoping…I mean…are you busy?”

Tim looked back to the laptop, rubbing the touchpad as the screen dimmed to keep the computer from going to the screensaver, “Well, I’m writing a report for work…”

Damian interrupted, looking for a way out of the room, “…Oh, sorry.  I’ll…I’ll just go.”

As the boy started to walk away, Tim said, “Wait!”  _Things have been better lately between us, and he obviously came for something._   “What is it, Damian?”

The boy stopped, but didn’t turn around.  “I wanted to ask you something…a…a favor.”

Tim was shocked.  _This is the first time he has asked me for anything, except maybe for that time he asked me to go to hell._   “A favor?” Tim repeated.

Damian’s head dropped as he sighed, resigning himself to turn around.  “Y-yeah.  Um…how much time do you have?”

“Well, I have to finish this report for work…”

Damian heard the answer and walked out the door, a touch of bitterness in his voice as he said, “…No, I get it.  Sorry I bothered you.”

Before Tim could try to stop him again, Damian was gone.  From out in the hall, Tim heard Dick’s disembodied voice say, “Hey, Dami-OW!  What was that for?  Where are you going?”

A minute later, Dick entered Tim’s room as Tim was putting the finishing touches on his report.  He flopped down on the bed and said, “Hey, Timmy.  What was wrong with Damian?  Did you two start fighting again?”

“Why?  What happened?”

“Well, I saw him coming out of here, and he didn’t look right.  I tried to stop him and ask, but he shoved me out of the way and ran downstairs.”

Tim stared, “I have no idea.  He came to ask me something, but never got around to actually asking before storming off.  What’s up?”

Dick looked at the door and said, “Huh.  Well, how about a movie tonight?  There are a couple new ones out that look interesting.  You going to be done working soon?”

Tim returned to the laptop and saved his report before closing it and turning off the computer.  Turning back, he said, “Yeah, I’m done now.  Um…I guess.  I mean, I don’t have any other…wait a minute.  You don’t think Damian wanted to _do_ something with me, do you?  He asked if I was busy, then if I had some free time.  You don’t think he wanted to, like… _hang out_ or something, do you?”

Dick looked a little taken aback, “I guess there’s a first time for everything, but I don’t…”

Tim interrupted, like he hadn’t even heard Dick speaking, “…And I bet he thought I was brushing him off when I said I was working.”  Tim stood and headed for the door, “A movie sounds good, but make sure you get three tickets, just in case.  I have to go see about something.”

Tim made it two steps into the hallway when he ran into Bruce.  Bruce grabbed the teen’s shoulders and steered him back into his room, until his legs hit the bed and he wound up sitting next to Dick. 

“What did you two do?” Bruce demanded.

Both looked confused and Dick asked, “Bruce?”

Bruce gave the boy’s an ‘it’s time to come clean’ stare and said, “I had just finished last night’s case report and was making my way up the stairs from the cave when Damian goes flying past me.  He ran off for the training room, and I could have sworn he was crying.  Then I see the two of you together like this, and I have to wonder what sort of prank you two pulled on him.  Damn it, he is not a normal child.  He doesn’t see your pranks as jokes.  He sees them as true expressions of feelings; that you want to see him embarrassed and make him feel bad about himself.  Now, what did you two do?”

“Bruce, trust me, we didn’t pull anything,” Dick said, “Timmy and D were talking, and then D blew past me in the hall as I was coming to see Tim.”

Bruce turned a glare on the teen, who flinched as Bruce growled, “Timothy?”  Dick winced involuntarily at the use of his brother’s proper name.

“I…I think part of this is my fault, Bruce.” Tim said weakly.

Bruce gave an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t get it, Tim.  You two were doing fine, why can’t you keep it up?”

“Bruce, I can fix this.”  Tim stood determinedly and slipped past the larger man, using a contortion Bruce thought only Dick was capable of to escape the room around the larger man.

Tim ran to the cave and headed towards the training area.  He slowed as he approached, listening for any clue as to what kind of mood Damian was in.  The sound that reached his ears was quieter than he was expecting, and not at all the same type of noise he was expecting.

_That almost sounds like…_   Tim stuck his head around the corner, originally expecting to see the boy pummeling a practice dummy.  Instead, he had to look twice to make sure his eyes were showing him exactly what he thought he was seeing.

Damian sat in the corner of the open space, his knees pulled up to his chin and his arms wrapped around his legs.  The child’s head was down, and he was shaking slightly and sniffling occasionally.  Tim took a step into the room and stopped, well out of reach, just in case, before speaking softly, “Damian?”

The younger boy’s head flew up, and Tim felt a pang of guilt.  Damian’s eyes were red, and tear tracks lined his cheeks.  Tim expected an angry look, but the one he got was full of hurt.

Tim took a couple involuntary steps forward, dropping to a knee before saying, “This isn’t because I said I had to work, is it?”

Damian sniffled, then said quietly, “I understand if you don’t want to…”  He broke off and put his head back down.

Tim was shocked.  _He_ did _want to hang out earlier.  Why didn’t he just say something?_

Before Tim could speak, Damian spoke again, his voice slightly muffled as he spoke into his knees.  “I thought we were getting better.  I’m trying, I really am.”

The hurt that rolled off the boy turned Tim’s stomach.  Tim sat against the wall, aware that he was almost leaning against the younger boy.  “We _are_ better, and I really did have to finish a report, I wasn’t just trying to blow you off.  But, I’m done now, and whatever it is surely isn’t worth all of this.  Come on, Damian, it’s still early.  I want to know what favor you came to ask me.”

While he didn’t lift his head, there was the beginnings of hope in Damian’s voice when he said, “You do?”

Tim lightly nudged Damian and said, “Yes, I do.  Maybe, depending on what it is, we can get it done before our plans tonight.”

Damian lifted his head and wiped at his red eyes with a sleeve.  “What plans tonight?  We don’t have plans tonight.  Father told us to take the weekend off.  Oh…you and Grayson have plans, don’t you?”

“Yes, Bruce told us to take the weekend off, so Dick asked if I wanted to go to a movie tonight.”  Damian’s eyes narrowed as he tried to decide whether he should be angry or hurt.  “I told Dick yes, but only as long as he bought three tickets.”

Damian’s eyes widened again, and the slight hope was back in his voice as he asked, “ _Three_ tickets?”

Tim nodded, “Three tickets.  He may have actually gotten his request out first, but you asked first, or at least, you tried to.  Believe it or not, I do actually want to spend time with you.  So, come on, you were going to ask me for a favor, I want to know what it is.” Tim hoped he was doing the right thing.  Still new at handling the boy, Tim just tried to say what he thought Dick would say.  _It seems to be working so far, and he isn’t as bad as I made him out to be for close to two years._

“…You sure?”

“How can I be sure if you don’t ask already?”

Damian wiped his eyes again and said, “I wanted to ask for…your assistance.  It’s…nothing important.  Just…something you may be good at.”

“…And, it’s something that Dick _wouldn’t_ be good at?  I’m not trying to get rid of you, I’m just surprised.  Usually he would be your first choice for…well, anything.”

“He’s…okay, but not as good as you.”  Damian’s eyes widened at the compliment that had just rolled off his tongue, but he wasn’t as shocked as Tim was.  However, as Damian thought on the comment, he felt no shame in it and found no reason to defend it or turn it into a backhanded remark.

Nodding, Tim asked, “Well, what is it, then?”

An hour later, Bruce and Dick were still sitting in Tim’s room.  Dick had told Bruce everything that Tim had told Dick, and Bruce felt bad about the accusation he had made.  They had agreed to give the boys some time to work out their issues, assuming that they would be returning to Tim’s room once they had patched up their burgeoning relationship.  Now that the clock in the hall was ringing in another hour, the older residents were beginning to get concerned at the lack of an update or lack of requests for medical care.

Deciding to make sure they were still alive, Bruce and Dick entered the cave to a lifeless silence.  Dick whispered, not wanting to make their presence known just yet, “You go first, Bruce.  I’ll go grab a mop, just in case we have to clean up a bloodbath.”

“Wait,” Bruce whispered back, “Grab some rubber gloves, too, just in case there are chunks and body parts.”

Entering the training area, they found the room empty, and curiously gore-free.  Bruce straightened up, shocked, and said, “It’s worse than we thought.  They both must have gone over one of the drop-offs in the main room.”

Walking back to the main area of the cave, they saw Alfred coming from the stairs, obviously looking for them.  “If you gentlemen will stop thinking the worst, you may wish to accompany me to the game room.”

Dick looked suspicious, “The game room?  What are they playing, Russian roulette?  Or, are they just dueling with broad swords?”

Alfred turned and led the way back up the stairs, hiding a smirk, “You may be surprised yet, sirs.”

As the three men entered the hall containing the game room, Damian’s voice could be heard, shouting, “Oh, come on!  Jesus, what was that?”  Tim’s voice could also be heard, but his words were indistinguishable.

The men approached more slowly, wanting to know what was going on before sticking their heads into the room.  They listened from outside the door for a couple minutes more.

“Drake, look out!”

“I see it, Damian, not to worry.”

“Get it, get it, yeah, good one.”

“Thanks, Damian.  You’re doing pretty good yourself.”

“Drake!  Left!  Leftleftleftleftleft!  No your other left!”

“Damian, we’re facing the same way!”

“Oh, then, on your right!”

“Don’t worry, I saw that.  It’s already taken care of, just watch.”

Bruce whispered to Dick, “What in the world are they doing in there?”

Just as confused, Dick shrugged and said, “Playing Twister?”

Leaning away from the door as Alfred tried to cover his laugh with a cough, Bruce glared at Dick.  “Out of all the things, _in the world,_ that those two could be doing in there, I think we can safely rule out Twister.”

Dick looked chagrined.  “Hey, it was just a guess.  Here’s a novel idea: why don’t we just go in and find out?  We already know that they are both alive and not trying to kill each other.”

Bruce nodded, then opened the door, far more slowly and stealthy that Dick thought he would.  Inside the game room, they found the manor’s two youngest residents sitting on the couch, side by side, engrossed in a video game.

The current level ended, and, not knowing they were being watched, both shouted ‘ _Yes!’_ and high-fived each other.  They then both whipped around as Dick couldn’t keep his ‘Awww’ to himself.  Both blushed, then realized that they had nothing to feel embarrassed about.

Tim spoke first, “Uh…hi guys.”

Bruce didn’t bother trying to hide his grin.  _My sons are finally acting like brothers._   “May we assume that everything has been fixed between the two of you?”

The boys looked at each other, then Damian spoke, “Father, Grayson, I apologize if I hurt either of you earlier.  Drake and I had a…misunderstanding.  It was completely my fault.  I’m sorry.”

Dick asked, “So…you’re good?”

Tim put a hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Bruce and Dick’s jaws dropped when Damian made no attempt to shrug it off or flinch away.  Tim smiled, “Yeah, I think we’re good.”

Bruce switched back into ‘parent’ mode.  “That is a pretty violent game you’re playing.  Want to tell me what it is and where you got it?”

Damian, who had turned back to the screen, turned back to Bruce and said, “It’s Call of Duty.  You bought it for me for my birthday last week.  I requested Drake’s assistance; I’ve been stuck on a level for days, but he was able to get us past it.”

Bruce looked shocked and whispered to Dick, “ _I_ bought it for him?  But, it’s so…shooty.”

Dick smiled as he realized his guess of several weeks earlier was true.  “You know, I was just joking when I told Alfred and Tim that you would just walk into a store, throw a credit card at a cashier, and tell him to give you something that a 12 year old would like, but that’s _actually_ what you did, isn’t it?”

Bruce tried to defend himself, “Only at the game store.  I picked out the snowmobile myself.”

Smiling, Dick nudged Bruce and said, “Picked it out yourself, or told the cashier to give you the same one you bought for the rest of us?”

Alfred leaned over to Bruce and said, “I believe we are no longer needed here, sirs.  Would either of you care for a cup of coffee?  I believe I should bring some refreshments for the warriors, as well.”

A couple days later, Damian stuck his head in the door of Bruce’s study.  “Father?  Pennyworth said you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, come in, sit down.”  Damian closed the door and took a chair opposite his father.

“Damian, first, I just wanted to say that…I’ve seen how hard you have been working lately, how hard you are trying to do everything that you think we want you to do.  I know this change can’t have been easy for you.”

“I wanted to change, Father.  It was a rude awakening to find out that people you work with don’t like you; that they only work with you because they have to.”

“I know that feeling, too.  You have handled everything very well.  I guess…what I really wanted to say is…I’m proud of you, son.  You are trying _so_ hard, and it shows.  Just look at how much things have changed around here.  I mean, you and Tim get along now.  You might even go so far as to call yourselves _brothers_ now.  If nothing else happens to me for the rest of my life, I think I would be happy just knowing that you and Tim and Dick would be there for each other.”

Damian was smiling at the acknowledgment of his work.  Voice thick with emotion, Damian whispered, “Thank you, Father.”

Bruce held out his hand, and Damian got up, rounded the desk, and leaned in for a hug.  _That was easier than I thought it would be with him, I love how he has changed in such a short time._   As they separated, Damian thanked his father again and made to leave the study when Bruce called him back.  “Wait, I have something else, but we have to wait for…”

Bruce cut himself off as the door to the study opened and Tim stuck his head in.  “Bruce?  Dick said you were looking for me.”

“Come in, Tim.  Both of you, take a seat.”  As the boys got settled, Bruce pulled two folders out of the bottom desk drawer.  “Tim, like I was just telling Damian, you two have made great progress lately, and I’m proud of both of you.  I know your new relationship is still in the building phase, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to speed it up a bit.  I have a mission that requires a set of brothers, and the two of you could just about pass for siblings in the looks department.”  He handed the files to his sons.  “I need you to learn everything in those files as soon as possible.  Something big is brewing, and I need people on the inside that I can trust to get us the right intel, and to be in position to help with the take down.  There is no one I trust more to get this done right now than the two of you.”

Tim and Damian looked at each other, silent agreement passing between them before Damian spoke for the brothers, “What’s the mission, Father?”

 

**A/N:  Yes, I did just end on a cliffhanger.  Yes, it was on purpose.  This story will actually serve three purposes in my future plans.  A while back, I toyed with the idea of writing all of my stories in a continuous, cohesive timeline.  Well, I have come up with one that I will be posting on my profile page, hopefully within the next few weeks.  I will be updating that every time I post a new story, and all future stories will fall within that timeline unless otherwise noted.  This story fits into that by drawing inspiration and elements from previous stories.**

**That said, the timeline isn’t perfect.  There are several age and date references that I may go back and change to make them fit the timeline, or I may just post new disclaimers about what to watch out for and what to ignore in my currently posted stories.  I haven’t decided yet.**

**The other big factor about my timeline is that it only follows DC timelines up to a certain point.  The one big thing that I am changing between my timeline and DC timeline is that, in my timeline, Batman Inc. never happened.  That means no larger, organized Batman force, no battle with Leviathan, no Heretic, and no death of Damian.  As you can tell from this story, Damian turns 12.  When he was killed in Batman Inc. #8, he was still 11, so that never happens in my timeline, because I don’t want it to.  This is my timeline, and I will write it how I want.  (Okay, enough whining from me)**

**Okay, where was I, I covered stories referencing other stories, switching up my timeline and DC timeline, now for part three.  Yes this is a cliffhanger ending, and I am sorry to say that everyone will have to wait for a while for the rest of the story.  However, that is a good thing, because this story is a standalone tale, but it is also a prologue for my second multi-chapter story.  I have an exciting outline already written up, and I am starting to write a couple chapters for it already.  However, I made a promise that I will not post any of it until Dark Days, Black Nights is completed.  Even with that said, I will still continue to write both stories concurrently, so when the new story goes up, I should be able to post a good chunk of the tale on day one.**

**Now, getting to this story.  I have no idea how many swords were made for Kill Bill, my guess just sounded good to me when I was writing.  There are a couple references to Damian’s epic gift for Tim’s birthday.  The laptop mentioned at the beginning was the gift.  See my story “The Birthday Present” for that tale.  As for birthdates, I decided to not be specific about an actual date for Tim and Damian.  However, in an upcoming story, I do assign a specific date for Dick’s birthday.  Whether it is a canon date, I don’t know and really don’t care.  The date serves the story, as the dates in this story will serve the later follow up.  Tim’s birthday is set sometime in the summer, while Damian’s is set firmly sometime in October.**

**Now, for the relationship aspect that plays so heavily in this story.  If anyone has complaints about how out of character my description of their relationship is, I would refer you to Convergence: Batman and Robin #2.  [Spoiler] At the end of the comic, Damian and Jason bury the hatchet and agree to try to get along, and Bruce and Damian both tell each other that they love the each other.  It is not euphemized or hinted at, they actually say the words ‘I Love You’.  If it can be written into an actual comic book published by DC that Damian and Jason are trying to get along, is it that much of a stretch to believe that Tim and Damian could do the same?[/Spoiler]**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.**

**Disclaimer: All relevant names and properties are the trademark, service mark, or legally owned property of their rightful owners.  No claim or credit is hereby offered or assumed.  I don’t own it or make any money from it.**


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